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Nobody in their right mind would load up two vans with kids and a truck with tools and luggage and drive ten hours to help those less fortunate, right? And nobody in their right mind would bring their kids to the church at 3:30 am, right? Well, apparently, First Pres is filled with lots of adults who are crazy for their children and kids who are crazy to do the work that Jesus called us to do: "You should do as I have done for you…." (Jesus in John 13:15)
On Sunday morning, July 9th, 24 soon-to-be Freshmen and 6 adult chaperones embarked upon a trip to Reserve, Louisiana (just over the Mississippi River from New Orleans). Headed by Group Work Camps, this trip drew church groups from all over the U.S.: Kalamazoo, MI; Wisconsin; Connecticut; Colorado; and Birmingham, AL just to name a few. The kids were divided into 60 different work crews made up of at least one adult and five or six other people. No crew had another person from that child's own Youth Group in it, which made it necessary for the kids to get to know other people quickly.
The crews spread out over Reserve and the surrounding areas, doing hot, sticky, dirty work such as scraping paint, painting (interior and exterior), building wheelchair ramps, replacing rotten wooden siding, and cleaning. In addition, each crew member had a specific job such as gathering all the tools necessary to complete the work at that particular site, leading the lunch-time devotions, making sure the lunches and drinks were packed or organizing and promoting a plan for completing the work at hand. The crews worked from about 8:30 am until 3:00 pm for five straight days (except a half-day on Wednesday), rain or shine, in extreme heat and humidity. All of our kids from Nashville seemed to take great pride in the new skills they learned: driving a nail, painting, etc. And many of them had never been "up close and personal" with poverty prior to this trip.
On our half-day off, our group from Nashville loaded up the vans and headed into New Orleans for a little site-seeing. After making a delivery at the New Orleans airport, we had beignets at Café du Monde, enjoyed a guitar performance by a talented (but probably homeless) street performer, were disappointed by the fact that the Musee Conti Wax Museum was unexpectedly closed, and enjoyed a delicious meal at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Emporium, complete with a trivia contest about the movie, "Forrest Gump".
We were advised not to venture into the areas that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina: the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard's Parish. We were told that these areas are extremely dangerous. Almost a year after the hurricane, these areas are still lacking infrastructure (such as street signs and electricity) and only the most desperate people have returned to the area. However, we were able to see glimpses of the destruction and witnessed deserted city blocks, with large "X's" on the building fronts and water lines that exceeded eight feet. The vans, full of chattering teenagers, got very quiet upon seeing such dismal conditions.
Throughout the week, we slept on the floors of East St. John the Baptist High School, which was wonderfully well air-conditioned and had plenty of hot and cold showers in the locker rooms. Each day began with a hearty breakfast followed by a program in the gym. The theme for the week was, "Living a Full Service Life". The Group Work Camps staff infused a gas pump/tire/fuel tank analogy throughout the week to help relay their messages at the group programs. Every day, the programs set up the "Jesus attitude" that we were encouraged to focus on/"fill up on" for that particular day: servanthood, sacrifice, humility, obedience, love. Then during the lunch break on the worksites, that "Jesus attitude" was reinforced with a crew devotion, led by one of the members of the crew. At night, following dinner, we again gathered in the gym for singing and more video clips, skits and messages about that particular "Jesus attitude". Following the evening program, we also met as a "family" each night, i.e. all the kids and leaders from Nashville met together to discuss the day, to share stories and to hear more of the word of God.
We left Reserve on Saturday morning, July 15th, and drove about 12 hours to Benton, Tennessee, where we camped out in un-air-conditioned tents in preparation for a white-water rafting trip down the Ocoee River on Sunday. The rafting was a blast and a fun way to top off a week of hard work, fellowship and discipleship. But truthfully, we were all very glad to pull into 4815 Franklin Road on Sunday afternoon….
Thank you for encouraging your children to look outside themselves to serve those around them. They are a great bunch of kids and it was a pleasure to get to be with them all week.
Galt Baker, Mary Lee Bartlett, Dorothy Pace, McLean Beto, Kerry Dietz, and Trey Wince Click here to see the rising freshmen and their leaders at work and play in Louisiana. |
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